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An update on UM’s iTunesU

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

Yesterday I responded to a Tech Partners email request for information concerning the implementation of iTunesU at the University of Montana. I would like to share this information with the larger University community via this blog.

I also would like to thank the Montana Kaimin for their recent article on iTunesU. I appreciate their coverage of our efforts to serve the students and professors.

Please feel free to call or email me with any questions you have on iTunesU.

Who is managing the iTunesU for campus?

Presentation & Technology Services is administering the implementation of iTunesU on campus.

Have professors/others been properly educated on the requirements for students to view/listen to postings?

Yes, P&TS provides instructions to professors who are having the lectures distributed through iTunesU. Currently lectures are also being co-hosted on the Mansfield’s Library eRes service. This provides access to students who do not have the iTunes application installed on their computer or are using lab computer.

Are students restricted to certain content based on their netID?

Yes, when a student logs-in to OneStop he/she is authenticated by their netID. When the student accesses iTunes (through the link within OneStop) they will see only courses in which they are enrolled, plus the UM section. The UM section contains postings of the President’s Lecture Series lectures, the State of the University address, and other content available to any member of the UM community. Please feel free to access the UM section on iTunesU to get a feel for how the service works.

To access the UM section on iTunesU start by going to onestop.umt.edu, and then select the link to iTunesU from the Quick Links. If you do not have the iTunes application installed on your computer you will be prompted to install it.

Can students download and/or stream the casts?

The students can stream the content, and/or download the podcast.

How are those of you around campus, who manage labs, allowing access to the posted podcasts, or are you?

The students can get the files off eRes without any special software. eRes works same as downloading a file from a web page.

Currently the IT managed computer labs do not have iTunesU as part of their set-up. If the requests are made for it to be installed, we may include it on the machines in the future.

Was there a seminar or memo about this on campus that I missed?

I have presented several brown bag sessions on podcasting and iTunesU, the latest one was just a few weeks ago.

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Posted in Academic, Communication, Innovation, Media, Projects, Web | 1 Comment »

iTunesU, off to a swell start

Monday, February 4th, 2008

With the start of the the Spring 2008 semester the University of Montana began offering course podcasts to students via the iTunesU interface. iTunesU is a free service provided by Apple to universities across the US. Universities can create class sections and post related podcasts into each section. Students subscribe to their course sections, and then receive the latest podcasts when they become available. Podcasts can be played through the iTunes application on either a MAC or a PC computer, downloaded to an iPod, or transfered to a MP3 player.

So far this semester Presentation and Technology Services is supporting twelve courses on iTunesU, plus a general section for University of Montana content. The general content includes lectures from the President’s Lecture Series, President Dennison’s State of the University Address, and other lectures of community-wide appeal. This area of iTunesU is open to any member of the UM community, and can be accessed through the iTunesU link on OneStop (onestop.umt.edu).

The courses can be accessed only by students enrolled in the respective course. If a student is not enrolled within a course they will not be able to download the course podcasts. So far this semester we are averaging 110 students logging into iTunesU per week, with all log-ins totaling 450 per week. Students have downloaded nearly 300 podcasts in the first two weeks of the semester. I expect these numbers will be on the rise as the time for exams and mid-terms nears closer.

If you would like more information on iTunesU please feel free to contact me at randy.gottfried@umontana.edu, or 406-243-2857.

Posted in Academic, Innovation, Media, Systems, Web | No Comments »

UMOnline launches new blog

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

I encourage you to check out  UMOnline Journal, a new blog that launched this week. The goal of UMOnline Journal is to foster conversation among those who are involved in online teaching and learning.

UMOnline Journal has been added as a channel that you can subscribe to in OneStop.

Posted in Academic, Communication | No Comments »

7 things you should know

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

Ever wonder, “What the heck is Twitter (or Skype, or wikis, or podcasting, or RSS, or any other new technology)?

Educause provides a great resource for understanding these new technologies with its 7 Things You Should Know series. Each document in the series asks and answers seven questions about a new technology:

1. What is it?
2. Who’s doing it?
3. How does it work?
4. Why is it significant?
5. What are the downsides?
6. Where is it going?
7. What are the implications for teaching and learning?

You can find the entire series by going to www.educause.edu and searching 7 things.

7 things you should know

Posted in Academic, Innovation, Training, Web | No Comments »

It’s not about technology

Wednesday, January 9th, 2008

The gap between college students and those who teach, administer and serve them is deep and wide when it comes to technology. That disconnect was discussed extensively last year during two days of web strategic planning at UM.  It seems critical that we reconcile the discomfort with technology among us aging Baby Boomers with the growing and changing expectations of the Net Generation. But how do we do that?

Educating the Net GenerationEducause has an e-book available on its site called Educating the Net Generation that might be worth a read. You can download the entire 264-page book in PDF format, or you can read it chapter-by-chapter in PDF or HTML format.

J. James Wagner, assistant provost for enrollment management and university registrar at The Pennsylvania State University contributed a chapter titled “Support Services for the Net Generation.”  In a section subtitled “It’s not about technology” Wagner says more or less what the UM web strategic planning group attempted to articulate: that campus leaders (all of us) need to do a better job of aligning our investment in technology with broad strategic goals of the University.

Here’s what Wagner had to say:

“The Net Generation cares about the activity technology enables, not the technol­ogy, per se. The use of technology to improve student services will be critical to the academy. Yet, it’s not about technology. Technology is a tool—it represents the means, not the desired outcome. Students will use technology; in fact, they will expect services delivered through technology. But before focusing on technology, student service professionals must articulate a clear and unambiguous vision that provides the framework for the technology. IT staff are important contributors to the desired outcome and must be part of the process; however, the leadership for improved student services should not be expected to come from within the technology ranks. Rather, it must come from those charged with advising and registering students, administering student aid, admitting students, collecting tuition and fees, and so on.”

Posted in Academic, Administrative, Innovation, Leadership and Management, Strategy, Web | No Comments »

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